But ... was I ever any good at football myself ?

As this blog has developed I have had feedback from a number of people who I have not yet met who are reading the blog and also feedback from people who I have known for a long time but who were not totally aware of my obsession with football and in particular the FA Cup. One or two have asked: ‘were you ever any good at football yourself Chris?’. The answer is no, I was shite but I enjoyed every minute of my long and less than illustrious playing career.

Like most other boys growing up in the north east of England I was kicking a ball around from as soon as I could walk. I played football in the back garden, the driveway, the street, the local park - anywhere. I played football with my younger brother Martin, the local kids, kids from school – anyone that would play. Below is a pic showing me ready for action in the back garden aged about 8.

 

At this stage in my life hoping to play for Boro at Wembley

My first recollection of playing for a team was when I was picked to play for the 2^nd and 3^rd years for my junior school team in a league competition in Redcar. I played on the right wing and I was a 9 year old in a team of 9 and 10 year olds. So, at this stage, I was doing ok. Little did I realise then that this was to be the highlight. My fledgling career was stopped in its tracks when I went in to third year (i.e. I was now one of the ten year olds) and was not picked despite being a year older. When I got into the fourth and final year I did not get picked for the school team.

Going in to secondary school my enthusiasm never waned but I was not picked for the U-13s at Sacred Heart secondary school Redcar. When the family moved to Midlothian I played in the trial matches for the St Davids Dalkeith school teams at U-14, U-15 and U-16 but never made the team. I continued to play with pals in the fields and occasionally in The Meadows in Edinburgh. Despite having to come to terms with the fact that I was never going to run out to play in an FA Cup final for Middlesbrough my love of the beautiful game actually flourished.

When I got in to 5^th year I suddenly found that all the good footballers had left school. My classmates were all staying on at school to try to get in to University and typically they were not very good at football. Early in my Highers year I went to play in the trial match for the U-18s and to my surprise found that I was not just in the squad, I was in the team. For two years on Saturday mornings I patrolled the right midfield berth in a 4 4 2 set up for St Davids. Opposition U-18 teams were also made up of academic 16 and 17 year olds and they were not very good either. So the matches were usually close and very enjoyable.

Rocking up at Stirling University as a 17 year old I was more into the music than the fitba and had no ambitions to get involved with 11 a side football. However, me and my new pals entered a team called ‘The Terrible Men’ into the 1979-80 six a side intra mural football league playing our games on Wednesday afternoons. We also played in the two seasons that followed as ‘The Last of the Terrible Man’ and ‘The Return of the Terrible Men.’ Flatmates and lifelong pals Alan McCusker Thomson and Jim Mullin played in all manifestations of the Terrible Men. We were pretty average but we did take it all very seriously and got fairly hyped for matches. On one Wed afternoon we were playing against a group of lads who were much better than us but we were holding out. One of the opposition players was flying past me when I stuck out a leg and tripped him and he went flying. A cry of “referee for fucks sake” emanated from the prostrate player. I leaned over him and said “get up – for fucks sake it’s a mans game”. The game raged on. Ten minutes after the final whistle in the communal shower I heard a polite enquiry ‘who was the guy who said it is a mans game?’ – ‘that was me’ I replied. Next I felt a thud on the side of my face as I was felled with one punch. There then followed a group of naked young men fighting in a shower in a scene that could have been lifted from a popular DH Lawrence novel. Most of the games were concluded in a much more amicable fashion. 

After University, apart from one year working in the motor trade as a garage equipment salesman, I forged a career as a secondary school teacher. During the summer terms the school teachers would play each other in a series of friendly staff matches on Thursday evenings. Hence I was able to reacquaint myself with the world of 11 a side football again. The 5 years playing for the combined Firrhill / Balerno staff team provided some great times and some fun matches. 

The Firrhill / Balerno staff team in typically sedentary action - 'Duffer' Donkin on left of the shot

Most of these games were very convivial but occasionally a match would flare up and bit of feistiness would be in evidence. Most of the time I played up front but occasionally I was detailed by our team captain to man mark their best player. Basically the advice was just to run around close to him to put him off his game. One such game was against Musselburgh Grammar staff where their playmaker was also the Headmaster and the part-time manager of Meadowbank Thistle Terry Christie. I followed him all over the pitch and he did not like it. Towards the end of the first half he decided to work a wee trick on me and go past me. He did get past me but I managed to trip him from behind as he went past and just like the Stirling University 6 a side player years earlier he went flying. I recall being very surprised how high he went after I tripped him and being quite pleased that I had managed to kick him up in the air. He was infuriated. He ran after the ball and collected it, brought it back and held it in front of my face: “look son – this is what you are supposed to fucking kick”. Two weeks later I was interviewed for a job at Musselburgh Grammar. As we sat opposite each other at the interview table he asked: “do I not know you from somewhere?”. “I think we played in the same football match recently” I said. I did not get the job.

In 1991 I moved to Boston Lincolnshire to work at Boston College and still being only 33 years old I thought this would be a good time to start playing competitive 11 a side football again - possibly in the Boston and District Sunday League. I had studied the league tables in the local rag and I did the arithmetic and worked out that if I could find the right team then I may be able to give a Sunday outfit the benefit of my years of experience and my silky right foot. The arithmetic went as follows: 30000 people in Boston in 1991. Hence 15000 of these were male. Of these only (say) 4000 would be in the age range 18 to 40. Probably only ¼ of these would be interested in playing. So, no more than 1000 fish in the talent pool. At that time there were about 50 teams in the Boston Sunday League and each team had a squad of about 20 players. With 50x20 equalling 1000 I reckoned that everybody would get a game – even me. I was right. And the right team was Cavaliers! Pic shown below of Cavaliers at the end of season 1995 when I was completing 4 glorious seasons on the right of midfield in their famous blue colours.

The caption underneath this picture from the Boston Standard  from May 1995 reads: “They say it’s the taking part that counts, and Boston Sunday League Division Two side Cavaliers would no doubt echo that sentiment. Poor Cavaliers finished their season with a 1-0 defeat, their best result of the season having played 18 lost 18 scoring 25 goals and conceding 121. However the Cavaliers deserve some credit – they managed to field a full team every week”. I am pictured standing 4^th from the left. The caption is proof positive that not only was I never any good as a player but I played for some ropey teams. After four eventful seasons with the Cavliers as a player there was only one way to go – in to management.

In 1995 Sports Science was starting at Boston College and the new Head of Sports Science, Mark Locking, and I thought it would be good to put a College team in to the Sunday League. Hence I left Cavaliers to co-manage the College team with Barry Peck. In the photo below from the Boston Standard Barry and I are at the outside of each side of the back row.

Boston College Sunday League team 1995-96: Managed by Donkin and Peck

Mark Locking was registered as a player and can be seen on the right hand side of the goal-keeper. My son Brian was 10 years old at the time and is the mascot in the front row. Some of the Sports Science lads from that era have remained in touch and have become good pals of mine - notably Koran Darrigan, Tony Tiffen and Simon Moses. Tony and Simon are also in the photo above. The team were relatively successful although I can’t claim my extensive knowledge of the game positively influenced their results. After one baffling and unstructured half time team talk that had been received in amazed confusion Koran said to me “you know gaffer I am sure that you think tactics are those small mints you get in a rectangular box”. Having helped to establish the College team in the league I then helped launch the College Reserve team and agreed to coach (I use the word in the loosest of terms) them. In the photo below I am top row third from the right.

 

Boston College Reserves - Boston Sunday League circa 1998

My good friends Koran and Martin Jolly are also in this pic. If we had less than 14 players turning up, or if the first team had to nick a couple of players, then I regularly got stripped and named myself on the team listings. Indeed I played in the Boston Sunday League as a not-so ‘super sub’ well beyond my 40^th birthday.

While all this Sunday League activity was going on, in parallel there was also staff football on a Friday night. This continued from 1993 right through to 2003. Like the staff football involving secondary schools in Edinburgh this was very light hearted and the drinking sessions that followed the matches were the main draw for many of the staff. The team photo below is a fairly typical line up and if you are counting we did regularly turn up with 9 or 10 players.

 

Boston College staff team circa 1997

My son Brian, who is seen in the middle of the front row, and was about 11 at the time and he ended up playing for the staff team on many occasions to make up the numbers. Over the decade we played well over 200 matches and the Fire Brigade, The Cauli Cutters, The Boston Borough Council, The Overseas Students and the Sports Science Students often provided the opposition. The standard was variable but the matches were always hugely enjoyable. As the years rolled by I gave up the midfield role and I moved into the forward line where one of the late Johhnny Hale’s match reports noted that ‘Donkin slumbered peacefully while the battled raged around him’. I did however score a few goals many of which were penalties. Throughout my lengthy career in the lowest echelons of soccer I must have taken about 20 penalties and I converted all but one. I had a technique that invariably worked. I would place the ball on the spot and step backwards away from the ball staring into the left hand side of the goal. I would then run up, head-down and kick the ball to my right. When I looked up the keeper would in most cases have dived to the left and the ball would be nestling in the right hand side of the netting. I believe that these days this is fashionably called ‘giving the keeper the eyes’. The problem was that I did not have the technique or ability to wrap my foot around the ball and send it left with any force. In one staff match the Fire Brigade turned up with 10 men and we had 12. So I offered to play for the Firemen. Towards the end of the game the Fire Brigade won a penalty. I grabbed the ball and placed it on the spot amidst cries of ‘why is the guest player taking the pen?’. As I walked backwards from the spot I saw the Staff team goalkeeper Viv Rynne laughing. He knew what was coming. I called to him – “it’s the double bluff tonight Viv this penalty is going to my left”. I put my head down hit the ball with some force to my right, as always. As I raised my head I saw that Viv had positioned himself three feet inside the right hand post and had caught the ball in his midriff without moving. The left hand side of goal gaped like a chasm. The end of my 100% record from the spot. The staff team also played an annual away match and the ‘boys night outs’ included playing teams from Peterborough, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Sheffield and one year on a very muddy pitch in Ripon a game organised for us by Andy Sandall. Pics from this match are shown below and yes one of our players was female.

Andy Sandall and a mud splattered blogger

 

Boston College Staff FC - on the road and in the mud

 

Silky skills or a total lack of balance ?

My last ever game of football gave me final notification that it was time to call it a day. By the time I was leaving Boston in 2008 to move back to Midlothian I was self employed. We organised a meal for people who I had worked with. These included a former student Phil Callow now running an IT business and the aforementioned Koran Darrigan who worked for me for a while. Phil was telling Koran that every Monday night he organised a short sided football match for his staff and invited Koran (now about 30 year old) to join them. “Hey – what about the invite for me” I protested. They both laughed and although now in my 50s the laughter made me more determined to get my boots on once again. I went to Spalding that next Monday. Kicked the ball once in the warm up and something went twang in my right leg and I have not played since. A great loss to the beautiful game.

I have always watched a lot of football but since hanging up my boots I have enjoyed the spectator experience more than ever. I look forward to all the games I attend with some relish but I am literally agog with anticipation at the prospect of watching Penrith play Sunderland RCA next Saturday in the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup. The Road to Wembley from Scotland is about to start and I am ready for it!  

So where would I like the road to take me ?

So where would I like the road to take me if I could choose?

Firstly I must say that I am so pleased that my first destination is Penrith. Living in Midlothian and working in the East Midlands of England from 2008 until March this year when I retired, I have passed their Frenchfield Stadium literally hundreds of times on the journey over the A66. I often toyed with the idea of trying to make my return journey from my work commitments synchronise with a Penrith AFC home match – but it never happened. The nearest I got was stopping off to see ‘Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash’ at  The Stoneybeck Inn in Penrith in September 2011. However, that is another story and possibly the subject for a completely different blog. I am also pleased to be visiting Penrith because of the friendliness of the communications that I have received from those associated with the ‘Bonny Blues’ since the draw for the extra preliminary round was made. Penrith Player Matthew Read, Karl who does the Penrith twitter feed, Cumbrian groundhopper Geoff Jackson, photographer Ben France and last but not least the Scottish physiotherapist Susan Pollock have all been very helpful. Thanks to them all and I am particularly looking forward to seeing Susan utilising her Scots no-nonsense approach to on-field treatment a week on Saturday. I am also delighted that the opposition is Sunderland RCA where Gary Errington, Keith Stoker and Ross McNab (grandson of the legendary Scottish Sunderland half back Jim McNab) have been very helpful in flushing out the links between their club and Bella Caledonia. I am hoping that the tie goes to a replay and that I get the chance to visit RCA’s Meadow Park.

Beyond the extra preliminary round, the draw for the preliminary round has already been made. The winners of the tie in Penrith will travel to play either Dunston UTS in Newcastle or Barnoldswick Town in Lancashire but just outside the Yorkshire Dales. I have no preference as to who wins the EP tie in Barnoldswick as a weekend in ‘The Toon’ or a visit to the Yorkshire Dales are both attractive propositions. Good luck to both of teams on August the 6^th. Pics of both of their home grounds are shown below.

The UTS Stadium in Newcastle where Dunston play their home games

 

The Silentnight Stadium in the sleepy Barnoldswick hamlet

For qualifying rounds 1 to 4 the ‘road’ could take me almost anywhere in the north of England during September and October. My fervent hope is that the route will swing by Lincolnshire. It would be absolutely magical if the road took me to York Street Boston, home of Boston United,  where I watched so many great FA Cup ties in the nineties and noughties. A visit to Tattershall Road home of Boston Town would also be amazing but this is less likely as there is a fair chance that they will be eliminated before the first qualifying round. Given that in the 17 years I lived in Lincolnshire I attended matches at just about every non league ground within an 80 mile radius of Boston then any visit back to Lincolnshire would be both nostalgic and exciting. I have always had a particular affection for Gainsborough Trinity and the Northolme in October always looks splendid. Pie, chips and mushy peas used to be available from the snack bar!  I have also noted that York City are now a non league team and a weekend break in York in the Autumn would be nice.

In November the League One and League Two teams enter the competition. My preferred picks here would be Hartlepool and Carlisle. However, it would be interesting to see one of the ‘slumbering giants’ thrashing away in the early rounds of the FA Cup. Portsmouth, Plymouth, Coventry and Sheffield United will be in the draw for round one. Alternatively, having lived for so long in the East Midlands it would be an attractive proposition to see how the likes of Lincoln City, Northampton, Chesterfield and Peterborough are getting on.

When the FA Cup reaches the third round stage the big boys join in. Having been born and brought up in the north east of England the prospect of attending an FA Cup tie at either the Riverside Middlesbrough or St James Park Newcastle would be mouth watering. Despite my background I have never seen Sunderland play a home game so a visit to the Stadium of Light would be a big moment for me. Beyond the north east ‘big three’ there are a whole load of teams I have a soft spot for – mostly because I have pals who support these teams. So to go a game at Tottenham with Colin Baggley and Steve Langford, Leeds United with Mick Taylor, Hull City with Howie Baby, Nottingham Forest with Boz, Leicester with Gary O’Donnell, Manchester United with Jiminio, Derby with Mick Moreton, Arsenal with Sanjoy or Aston Villa with Graham Randall would all be memorable.

The truth of the matter is that the marble balls in the velvet bag will decide the route. Wherever the road takes me I am ready for it and looking forward to it with great anticipation.

Penrith and Sunderland RCA pre-season round up ... and football and the soul !

Not long to go now until the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round tie between Penrith and Sunderland RCA. Yesterday I thought I would check with both clubs to see if this will be their first competitive match of the season. For both teams it will be. I understand that for the majority of the 368 teams competing in the EP round this will be their first competitive game of 2016-17. This is apparently unusual as most years the EP round takes place after a couple of league games. However, the FA Cup kicking off the domestic season does seem to provide a beautiful symmetry as the last domestic competitive match of 2016-17 will be the FA Cup final at Wembley in May 2017. The FA Cup will bookend the entire season. Another bit of nice symmetry is provided by ‘The Road to Wembley from Scotland’ opening match. As stated, for both Penrith and Sunderland RCA this will be their first competitive match of 2016-17. The final competitive match for both teams in 2015-16 was their meeting at Frenchfields Stadium Penrith on the 8^th May 2016 when the men from Wearside went home with three points and a 2-0 victory tucked away. A pic from this game is shown below - with thanks and acknowledgement to the Sunderland RCA web site.

Sunderland RCA player auditions for the 'Ministry of Funny Walks'

It seems to have been almost a game too far for the visitors as they completed their 4^th match in the final week of the season. The manager and the assistant manager were unable to attend due to prior commitments so the trainer Colin Larkin took over for one game only. With the on loan keeper Michael Wood from Sunderland AFC called up by New Zealand for international duty the stand in manager had to play in goal. With other knocks and bruises in the RCA camp they only named one fit substitute. Despite all this they still headed back over the Pennines victorious. Hopefully they will have a full complement of players available for the big match on Saturday week.

Both Penrith and Sunderland RCA have been involved in pre-season friendly action. As previously reported Penrith maintained their Scottish links by entertaining the ‘Doonhamers’ of Queen of the South and lost a close match by the odd goal in seven. They have also thrashed both Milnthorpe Corinthians 4-0 at home and Carlisle City 6-0 away. The other pre-season friendly match played by ‘The Bonny Blues’ was a poignant fixture for the Scottish Physio Susan Pollock when Penrith entertained her previous club Workington in a Cumbrian Derby a couple of weeks ago. The match finished 1-1, a great showing by Penrith against a team from two tiers above them in the pyramid.

As far as I can gather Sunderland RCA have not been quite as active. Last midweek they entertained HMS Bulwark and ran out comfortable 9-0 winners. Prior to that they had travelled to North Yorkshire and won 3-1 against a decent Richmond Town side. The photo below from the match is also taken from the excellent Sunderland RCA web site.

 

Who ate all the pies? The Richmond player has had a great close season!!

Both the Penrith and Sunderland RCA teams are in fine fettle as the big day approaches !

I also take part in a music based e-forum for people of a certain age and background. One of the contributors is my good friend Kevin Higgins (or Big Hig the Slovenly Pig as I like to call him) and he has no interest or indeed knowledge of football. Despite this he gave an analysis of the Penrith v Sunderland RCA game identifying what it would take to win such a match. He wrote: “You've got to have the Passion, the Commitment, the skills and the force of will to win. That and artistic interpretation, the ability to express yourself with the ball, the communicative skill to empower a team , the philosophical background to understand the meaning of a ball crossing the line and its ontological significance, the understanding that of all possible engagements with the physical world the movement forward of the leg from the hip to connect the foot  with the ball is the one which embodies the true nature of existence and brings into being that occluded and nascent part of the human spirit--the Soul”. Another contributor, Dougie Ritchie, responded: “Nope, you’ve got to be able to punt the ball up the field in a haphazard manner and hope that someone from your team gets near it, after which it becomes their problem not yours.” Hopefully there will be slightly more skill on show when the two Northern League clubs meet on August the 6^th. Not long to go now until I head down the M74 for the match.  

Annan played Well !! ... next stop on the road is Penrith

As I wait with baited breath for the Penrith v Sunderland RCA FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round tie to be played on August the 6^th I decided that I would test my approach to reporting on the FA Cup games that I will attend by popping down to Annan Athletic to see their Scottish League Cup tie against Motherwell.

Annan Athletic 1 Motherwell 3 (Sat July 23rd 2016)

Annan on Saturday  was very enjoyable. Annan are a very welcoming football club who play good football and try hard to make the matchday experience pleasant for all spectators. As regular readers know I took on this extra non-Hearts game as preparation for my Road to Wembley from Scotland that is due to start in less than a fortnight. The plan was to try out my ‘score out of 100’ methodology. So here goes.

Pre Match Communications: It seems unfair to judge Annan on this category as this match was not part of the main project and hence I did not actively seek to make contact with Annan Athletic before the match. However, Annan Athletic kindly retweeted my tweeted intention to attend this match and a couple of Motherwell fans ‘liked’ the same tweet. So lets go for 5/10

Pre match pint: After I parked the car near the ground at 2.00 pm I asked a man washing his car outside his house where the nearest pub was. He noted about a mile away in town. My heart sank. I asked him if there was a pub in the ground ‘ah yes, the Social Club’. That will do nicely. The Social Club is not quite in the ground being just the other side of the turnstiles. Presumably this is to comply with Scottish football’s drinking regulations. If so, then nice work Annan Athletic – works for me. The club was filled with about 2/3 Motherwell supporters and 1/3 home fans. No silly segregation here and the away fans were made most welcome. No hand pulled real ales on sale but the Guinness was more than acceptable 7/10.

Match Programme: A bit on the skimpy side for £2. The programme is a 12 A5 pages glossy with 4 and half pages devoted to advertising. The publication did include some great reading though. The team manager, Jim Chapman, wrote the longest ‘managers notes’ column that I have seen in some time describing in some detail how he intends to develop the club in the coming season. 

The Chairman’s column was also fascinating with the top man giving some very candid views on how other clubs seem to have poached a couple of their key players over the close season. If Dumbarton have indeed tried to side step normal contractual practices to sign Josh Todd on ‘amateur terms’ then they should be ashamed of themselves. I hope the SPFL resolve this issue in Annan’s favor. It was very disappointing to read about one hard-up lower league club trying to diddle a fellow hard-up lower league club. Another feature at Annan is that after the teams are declared at 2.00 pm the team lines are photo-copied and are made available (in the pub) as a single A4 sheet for 10p. I have not seen this done elsewhere and I reckon this is a great idea. A great example of how Annan try hard to make the matchday experience a pleasant one. 6/10

Ground: The ground is great and I was really impressed. Annan is a very small town with a population of 8500 so I was not expecting a facility as well appointed as Galabank. The ground is essentially a three sided ground for spectators. They have a cracking main stand that looks fairly new that runs almost the length of one side of the pitch. Behind the ‘home goal’ they have covered terracing and behind the away goal they have an uncovered terrace. The fourth side (opposite the main stand) only accommodates the dug outs and a fence that borders with the road outside the ground. Still, I guess it protects the managers from the usual verbal pelters that are slung their way on a Saturday afternoon. 

The 'fourth side' at Galabank

Despite the small size of the ground, Galabank also has a small wheelchair enclosure for wheelchair users and their carers. A few Motherwell supporters made good use of this on Saturday. The Annan ground also features one the best PA systems that I have heard in any football ground in recent times. Clear and loud enough to be heard all over the concourse, and possibly all over Annan. The speakers also had an unusually high quality bass response. Listening to the pre match music was almost like being at an out door pop concert. The choice of the music on Saturday was also noteworthy. The man on the mike had selected the long forgotten 1971 minor hit ‘Rosetta’ by Alan Price and Georgie Fame. I assume that the reason he had this on his play-list on Saturday for the visit of ‘The Well’ was that the chorus contains the lines:

Rosetta are you better, are you well, well, well

Rosetta are you better, are you well, well, well

Well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well

I looked across to the away end as this was playing and noted that the Well fans were reading their programmes, eating their pies and chatting with their mates. Totally 'under Well-emed' by the efforts of the Annan Athletic Stadium announcer. Good try though. 

Annan defending in the first half

More defensive work for the home team in the first half

The PA Announcer’s playlist also included David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ played to herald the introduction of the teams in both the first half and second half.  The whole stadium metaphorically smelled of fresh paint. There was a real sense that the staff and volunteers at Annan Athletic look after and take pride in their home ground. 9/10

Atmosphere: The atmosphere was fairly relaxed and pleasant. I feel sure that later in the season I will come across high octane football played in stadiums that are rocking. The atmosphere at Galabank on Saturday could not be described as rocking. The local team seem to attract a fair number of elderly fans (or maybe it was just where I was sitting) and their presence added to the soporific atmosphere in the ground. 

Annan defend another corner in the first half

Also, the League Cup Group stage is somewhere between a pre-season friendly and a full blown competitive fixture so to expect the ground to be rocking would be a bit unfair. Everyone was well behaved and at a football match in Scotland that is always a bonus. I reckon everyone went home happy too. The Motherwell fans had seen their team play some nice football and win comfortably and the home fans had seen their side put up a spirited performance against a Premier League side. 6/10

Quality of football: Pretty good fare on offer given that this is July. Motherwell played some good stuff for the first half hour and had they been leading 3-0 at that stage it would not have been unjust. As it transpired they only had a single goal to show for their domination. 

Louis Moult goes close for Motherwell

That goal being a cross shot from a very tight angle from the skilful Marvin Johnson. If he meant it then it was a stroke of sheer brilliance. Annan more or less weathered the storm and equalised against the run of play when a cross from the left was headed powerfully home by Rabin Omar. Motherwell scored a couple of good goals midway through the second half. Both scored by centre forward Louis Moult who was a threat all afternoon. 7/10

Entertainment: Some of the entertainment for me was noting the difference between the Scottish Premier League and Scottish League Two when it comes to tattoos and boots. Whereas the Motherwell team were not as prolifically inked as some of their peer teams in the Premier Division they did have a couple of players in Richard Tate and Marvin Johnson who sported the by now expected ‘sleeve of tattoos’ worn by so many well paid footballers. Watching them linking up at pace down the right wing in the first half the navy blue hieroglyphics flashed by glinting in the July sunlight. The Annan team seemed to only have one player, their captain Steve Black, who had visited the tattoo artist. His designs were of a much more modest nature. At the top of his left arm he seemed to have a sort of small flash of some kind and on the elbow of his right arm he had the traditional and ridiculous star. The football boots worn by the Motherwell team were by and large shiny and luminous and multicoloured and, in short, flashy. A couple of the Annan lads had pushed the boat out and acquired garish footwear but on the whole their boots looked a lot more workmanlike. 6/10

Match day catering: The pie was a traditional scotch pie. Served warm and only costing £1.50 it was ok. The pie stall at Galabank however deserves special mention. It was situated at the back of the covered terracing and unusually housed garden furniture so that supporters could have a wee sit down, read their programmes and enjoy their refreshments in comfort before the game started. A nice touch. 7/10

The Pie Shop at Galabank doing as steady trade before kick off

Value for money: I am not sure how much Annan will be charging for home games in the league but £12 to see them take on a Premier League team in a competitive fixture seemed to be a reasonable price. 7/10

The ‘je ne sais quoi’ factor: As stated in the introduction Annan Athletic do try hard to make the matchday experience pleasant for all spectators – and on Saturday, for me at least, they succeeded. The pub in the ground, the long informative articles in the programme, Rosetta played on the PA, the pie garden, a well organised team playing good football in a lovingly-cared for and well maintained ground. It all worked for me Tradition in football is a big thing. As a football anorak who is about to see matches in all 14 rounds of the FA Cup this coming season I love the tradition of the game. However, occasionally the game needs churn to keep it fresh. Annan Athletic are relatively new to the higher echelons of Scottish football having only been voted in to the league 8 years ago. They have brought a modern approach to customer care that many of the older clubs in Scotland could learn from. 9/10

Overall ‘Road to Wembley from Scotland’ rating 69/100. Good luck to both Annan Athletic and Motherwell for the coming season. The next match report will feature the Penrith v Sunderland RCA game in the FA Cup. Only 12 sleeps to go – cannae wait!

Waiting for the Penrith v Sunderland RCA match - so off to Annan to 'road test' my reporting skills

So, as the Penrith v Sunderland RCA match draws ever closer I have decided to ‘road test’ my ‘Road to Wembley from Scotland’ reporting skills by attending the Annan Athletic v Motherwell Betfred Scottish League Cup tie at Galabank Anna this coming Saturday.

Galabank: The home of Annan Athletic

I have decided that in addition to reporting on whatever seems to be noteworthy on the day I am also going to award a mark out of 100 for each match I visit. Hence after I have attended the FA Cup Final at Wembley in May 2017 I will be able to use this scoring system to nominate the best match on the ‘road’. There is not going to be anything scientific here – all marks awarded will be my personal opinions and will be completely subjective. I propose award marks out of 10 in 10 different categories. The categories chosen below are all of interest to me and I suspect will be of interest to many football fans visiting a ground for the first time.

Category 1 - Pre Match Communications: On the Road to Wembley from Scotland I will be contacting all the clubs that I will be watching in advance of the tie. The unique feature of this ‘Road to Wembley’ is that I will be looking out for a Scottish link to each match.

Category 2 – The pre match pint: Could I get one? How convenient is it to enjoy a small libation before the game? What did it taste like?

Category 3 – Match Programme: A must for every first time visitor to a new ground.

Category 4 – Ground: Comfort, maintenance, fitness for purpose – that sort of stuff

Category 5 – Atmosphere: What it feels like to be there

Category 6 – Quality of football: The standard of play

Category 7 – Entertainment: Not to be confused with category 6. I saw a dreadful game a few years ago between Musselburgh Athletic and Auchinleck Talbot. An extremely feisty encounter with one sent off and two carried off – very entertaining!

Category 8 – Match day catering: In most cases this will be the pie.

Category 9 – Value for money: Was it worth the price of admission?

Category 10 – The ‘je ne sais quoi’ factor: A catch all category. Possibly something that made the day memorable

I may of course revise the above categories on Monday if I find out that this format does not work. For now, I am off to Annan on Saturday. Galabank is only one of 8 Scottish league grounds that I have not yet visited and I am looking forward seeing the Black and Golds take on their Scottish Premier League visitors.

Previewing the Penrith v Sunderland RCA tie and also Penrith Physio Susan Pollock in action

Just a short post today. Yesterday I noted the preview below from the excellent FA Cup Factfile twitter feed. Thanks guys.

Penrith (Northern League 1) v Sunderland RCA (Northern League 1)

A meeting between 2 Step 5 teams this is their first meeting in the FA Cup. Penrith has been knocked out in Extra Preliminary Round in both of the last two seasons, although have made it to 2^nd Round Proper in 1981/82 when they beat Third Division Chester 1-0 before losing 3-0 to Doncaster Rovers. Sunderland RCA has failed to go beyond Extra Preliminary Round 9 times in 12 campaigns, including the last four seasons.

Hence it is fairly clear it is going to be a significant achievement for whichever team emerges victorious on the 6^th August. I have started to count down the days until match day. Penrith drew 1-1 last night at The Frenchfields with a strong Workington Reds team so it would seem are in good form going in to the new season.

Also yesterday I checked with Ben France Photography that it was ok to use the team photo of Penrith FC shown in yesterday’s post. He was ok with this and suggested that I might consider using the pic below taken by his Dad of Susan Pollock using her physio’s skills to great effect !

OUCH ! I now see what Susan means by a 'no nonsense' approach

 I did check with Susan before publishing! More soon …..

Penrith FC Physio Susan Pollock's magic sponge is pure tartan !

As previously reported there are a number of links between Penrith AFC and Scotland with the Cumbrian club having, quite literally, ‘friendly’ relationships with a number of clubs north of the border. I also found out yesterday that the current manager, Matt Henney, used to play for Gretna. However, the main tartan influence at Frenchfield stadium is Scottish Physio Susan Pollock.

Susan still lives just over the border in Gretna where she has been based for 20 years. She is originally from Dumfries. She has provided medical support for football clubs for 12 years. She originally worked at Gretna Football Club starting in 2004 after being invited to join the medical team by then Assistant Manager David Irons. She worked with Gretna FC, on its famous and exciting journey through the Scottish Leagues to reach top flight in the Scottish Premier League. Our paths cross here as Gretna most famously were beaten on penalties in the 2006 Scottish Cup Final after finishing 1-1 after extra time by my beloved Hearts. I am pretty sure that Susan will have different memories of this match than I have (see my post from Sunday July 3^rd). Susan tells me that only two years after this Hampden high all staff and players were made redundant in May 2008 when the club went into administration. 

Susan then began a BSc Hons in Diagnostic Radiography at the University of Cumbria and took on a role with Workington Reds to work under manager Darren Edmondson (previously a community coach at Gretna) and assistant manager Viv Busby, former coach at Gretna and who notably played with George Best at Fulham. Susan was there for 4 years but due to the extensive traveling commitments moved to Penrith FC to allow her time to concentrate on the final year of her MSc in Physiotherapy.  Matthew Henney, manager at Penrith had been a player at Workington and quite clearly admired Susan’s work and invited her to join the backroom team at Penrith in 2013. This will be Susan’s 4th season at Penrith.

 

The current Penrith AFC squad: Susan Pollock is top left

I asked Susan if she felt there was anything specifically Scottish in her outlook that benefits the Penrith team. She replied that she considers that she has a ‘no nonsense’ approach and also that she is able to have a laugh too. She gives sympathy when required and a kick up the backside when not.  She is quite hard on players sometimes but she tells me that they know it's usually for their own good! I reckon it is this combination of empathy, fair play and honesty that has served so many Scots well in English football throughout the years. Sir Alex and Bill Shankly spring immediately to mind.

I am so grateful to Susan for conducting an email  interview to allow me to write this post. Susan also told me that all Northern league clubs also have the Scottish link to Brooks Mileson (former chairman of Gretna FC) as they play in the 'Brooks Mileson Memorial League Cup'. On the Road to Wembley from Scotland throughout season 2016-17 I hope to engage in dialogue with a whole load of Scots contributing to the beautiful game in England who I meet along the way. Good luck to Susan Pollock and to Penrith for the forthcoming season.

George Herd Scottish International from the 1950s coached Sunderland RCA ! ... also more links between Penrith and Scotland

So, I go away for a couple of days to Hull to see the rugby league derby between Hull and Hull KR and the links between Scotland and my first match on the Road to Wembley from Scotland come flooding in via twitter. Many thanks to Geoff Jackson (@CumbrianGeoff on twitter), Keith Stoker (@el_quesogrande), Matthew Read (@wizzer25) and Annan Athletic Football Club (@AnnanAthleticFC) for your contributions in advance of the big game between Penrith and Sunderland RCA in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round on Saturday the 6^th August.

I will start with the more tenuous links. As previously reported, Penrith  regularly play pre-season friendlies against Scottish teams close to the border. Continuing this Scottish link, last week they lost a thriller by the odd goal in seven at their Frenchfields Stadium against Queen of the South. Seven years ago the Frenchfields Stadium was formally opened when Annan Athletic provided the opposition and rather impolitely thrashed their hosts 5-1. Geoff Jackson has provided a scan of the front page of the programme of this historic match and it is shown below.

Additionally Geoff pointed me in the direction of Lewis Guy. Lewis is Penrith born and has played for 10 different English teams but has also plied his trade north of the border. Some readers will remember Lewis from his spell with St Mirren in the 2012-13 season when he played 29 times for the Buddies and scored 5 goals. He is currently playing for Annan Athletic … and he scores goals ! … see below

 

Lewis Guy celebrates scoring for Annan against Stirling in Feb 2016

Geoff has also noted a link between Sunderland RCA and Bella Caledonia. Sunderland born Stephen Halliday was a man of many clubs. He briefly appeared in the Scottish Premier League some years ago when he made 8 appearances for Motherwell. His sticker album card from that era is shown below. He is now 40 and finished his career recently playing for his local club – namely Sunderland Ryhope Community Association !

 

Penrith born Halliday in Motherwell colours

Geoff also supplied a blog entry that he posted in November 2013 when he visited Meadow Park the home of Sunderland RCA for their home league match against Durham City. I am quoting the link here http://cumbriangroundhopper.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/overall-223.html and it is well worth clicking. Here Geoff provides the history of SRCA and also some interesting detail relating to their Meadow Park ground. It looks great and I am now hoping that the match on the 6^th August goes to a replay so that I visit Meadow Park myself!  

My new twitter pal Keith Stoker has come up with a really interesting link between Scotland and Sunderland RCA. The legendary Sunderland Inside Forward from the 1960s, Scottish International George Herd, now 80, was coaching at Sunderland RCA up until 2013! He is pictured below with football pals and fellow former RCA men, Neil Hixon and Gary Shields at the Sunderland RCA v Guisborough match on Thursday, 5 May 2016. George celebrated his 80th birthday the following day.

 

George Herd sporting the Sunderland RCA colours (love that tracksuit)

Lanark born George had a fantastic career doing footballing missionary work south of the border. Before signing for Sunderland in 1961 he played for Clyde for four seasons and achieved legendary status with that club too as he was the right winger in the 1958 Scottish FA Cup final when Clyde beat Hibs 1-0 in front of over 95000 fans to lift the famous old trophy. In total George played 111 times for Clyde scoring 20 goals. His tricky wing play brought him to the attention of the Scottish selectors. He won 5 Scotland caps between 1958 and 1960 scoring his only goal for his country in a 3-3 draw in Budapest against Hungary when the Scots held the Mighty Magyars. 

George Herd proud to wear the Scotland jersey

George’s Sunderland career spanned 10 seasons from 1961 to 1970. He was part of the promotion winning team in 1963-64 and a contemporary and team mate of fellow Scot, the late Jim McNab who also has strong Sunderland RCA connections (see previous post). In total George played 278 times for Sunderland scoring 47 goals.

It is becoming clear even before I have been to a single match on ‘The Road’ that the Scottish influence flows through the veins of the game in England. Interesting also to find out that some of the young Scots footballers, like George Herd and Jim McNab, who left their homeland to go south to fulfill their potential in the 50s and 60s stayed on and settled in England to contribute to development of the game after their playing days were over. 

Keeping it in the family - Sunderland RCA's Ross McNab is the grandson of Scottish legendary left half Jim McNab

In yesterday’s post I left you with my next task – to find the link between Sunderland RCA (or Sunderland Ryhope Community Association to give them their full name) and Scotland. A quick tweet to the football club’s twitter feed brought some gold dust back to Donkin Towers. I have discovered that the current Sunderland RCA left back Ross McNab is the grandson of the legendary Scottish Sunderland left half Jim McNab.

Jim was born in 1940, brought up in Denny in Stirlingshire and sadly passed away in 2006. He is buried in Ryhope cemetery. Sunderland were his first club and he was a regular between 1958 and 1967. He played 285 league games for Sunderland. Jim was part of the Sunderland promotion winning team in 1963-64 and the same season they enjoyed a good cup run. Jim alongside Jim Montgomery in goal, Irwin, Ashurst, Harvey and Hurley formed one of the most notable and settled back fives in Sunderland’s history.

Jim did not score that many goals for Sunderland but he did score the crucial opening goal in an FA Cup 5^th round tie in February 1964 when Sunderland beat Division One high flyers Everton 3-1 in front of 63000 fans at Roker Park. The pathe news video from that match is available on YouTube if you click this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9vLFoR9SNQ you will be royally entertained. Incredible scenes from a by-gone age and great footage of Jim McNab opening the scoring. A still pic of that goal is shown below.

 

Jim McNab scores at Roker Park against Everton in the FA Cup in 1964

The ready-to-go Sunderland AFC message board notes that this is a rare goal from ‘Mac The Knife’ and that it received one of the loudest roars ever at Roker Park. A roar that it is reported could be heard in South Shields!

Jim’s grandson Ross McNab now plays for Sunderland AFC and like his grandfather plays on the left side of the defence. Ross is pictured below.

 

Ross McNab - eligible to play for Scotland !

 The SRCA web site describes Ross as a left sided player who has developed into a very good full back. Defensively he is very competent, loves to get forward in support of his midfield and has a great range of passing. Gary Errington from the backroom staff at Sunderland RCA has been helping me via twitter with background information from the club. In addition to the testimonial on the web site, Gary describes Ross as a ‘lovely lad’. I am looking forward to seeing Ross and his team mates in action against Penrith in the first weekend in August.

The Bonny Blues entertaining teams from Bonny Scotland !

Since the draw for the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup 2016-17 was made on Friday pairing Penrith with Sunderland RCA, I have been engaged in some initial dialogue to find out what the link between Penrith FC and Scotland is. I got a twitter reply from one of my new virtual pals Matthew Read who plays for Penrith FC and tweets as @wizzer25. I am assuming Matthew's day job is as a delivery driver as Matthew reported that as far as he knows there are no Scots players in the current Penrith team but he does deliver in Scotland! However, it would appear that the Penrith physio, Susan Pollock, is Scottish. More about Susan perhaps in a future post.

As the dialogue continued it became clear that one link between Penrith FC and Scotland is that they regularly play pre-season friendlies against teams from just over the border. Indeed, this Wednesday the Bonny Blues, as they are known locally, will be entertaining Queen of the South at their Frenchfields Stadium. Over the last few years Penrith have played Gretna a few times and when their new stadium was opened on the 3^rd August 2009 Annan Athletic provided the opposition. It would appear that the electricity supply was not ready but the match went ahead with the leccy provided by mobile generators.

I am very grateful to both Matthew Read and Geoff Jackson out there in twitter-world for providing the detail above. Also many thanks to @KarlPif who handles the Penrith FC twitter feed. I feel sure that as I continue my e-conversations with Matthew, Geoff, Karl and others I will unearth more Scottish links between the Bonny Blues and Bonny Scotland. Now, back on to twitter to try to find links between Sunderland RCA and Caledonia.

Ooh La La - I am headed for the Frenchfields Stadium in August !

The die is cast – the first staging post on the road to Wembley from Scotland will be Penrith! At lunchtime today the draw for the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup 2016-17 was made and the tie that will be staged closest to the England / Scotland border is the tie between Penrith and Sunderland RCA. Penrith on Saturday the 6^th August here I come. I am really looking forward to visiting The Frenchfields Stadium in Penrith.

 

The well appointed Frenchfields Stadium in Penrith

Living in Scotland and working in the East Midlands of England for the last 8 years I have driven past Penrith FC’s well appointed ground about 500 times as I have charged over the A66. I have often thought about trying to drop in on a match day but never managed it. The ‘Road to Wembley from Scotland’ is about to provide this opportunity. I am looking forward to it already.

 

The main stand at the picturesque Frenchfields Stadium

I don’t know much about Sunderland RCA yet, but I will be getting in touch with the men from Wearside in advance of the tie. I have already been in touch with Penrith via their twitter feed and I will be hoping they can help me out with a ‘Scottish link’ to their club. Watch this space.

The draw for the Preliminary Round was also made at lunchtime and the winners of the Penrith v Sunderland RCA tie will travel to either Dunston UTS or Barnoldswick Town. A visit to Dunston with all their tradition or to the picturesque village of Barnoldswick on the 20^th August has also got me salivating. This is going to be some journey!

Do I know what I am letting myself in for? Where will the road take me?

Do I know what I am letting myself in for? A question one or two readers and friends have asked me over the last couple of weeks and the answer is yes ! I have been planning this for over a year now and because of this I have researched out how the journey would have panned out had I been travelling the road in season 2015-16.

 

The final destination: Wembley Stadium - The Holy Grail

Below are details of where the road would have taken me in 2015-16.

Rd	Home	Score	Away	Score	Att	Miles	Total
Ex P	Penrith	1	Jarrow Roofing	2	110	228	228
Prelm	Bishop Auckland	1	Jarrow Roofing	2	272	260	488
Q1	Jarrow Roofing	3	Congleton	4	106	258	746
Q2	Whitley Bay	2	Congleton	1	292	258	1004
Q3	Whitley Bay	2	Chorley	3	292	258	1262
Q4	Northwich Vic	1	Chorley	1	534	370	1632
Q4R	Chorley	1	Northwich Vic	2	1080	360	1992
Rd1	Northwich Vic	1	Boreham Wood	1	502	370	2362
Rd1R	Boreham Wood	1	Northwich Vic	2	512	750	3112
Rd2	Northampton	3	Northwich Vic	2	3837	660	3772
Rd 3	Northampton	2	MK Dons	2	5878	660	4432
Rd3R	MK Dons	3	Northampton	0	15133	682	5114
Rd 4	MK Dons	1	Chelsea	5	28127	682	5796
Rd 5	Chelsea	5	Man City	1	41594	798	6594
Rd 6	Everton	2	Chelsea	0	37823	420	7014
SF	Everton	1	Man United	2	86064	684	7698
Final	Man United	2	Crystal Palace	1	88610	684	8382

As you can see the road would have seen me spending some time early on in the North East, heading west to Lancashire, then south to Boreham Wood, Northampton, Milton Keynes and Chelsea. Latterly, there would be a diversion to Liverpool to see Everton knock out Chelsea before heading to Wembley Stadium for the semi final and final. The road last season would have been 8382 miles – how long will it be this season? I would have seen some great games last season and no doubt excitement is in store for me over the next ten months as I embark on the Road to Wembley from Scotland.

The draw for the Extra Preliminary Round takes place tomorrow and then the whole thing becomes very real. My friends from the FA Cup Factfile twitter feed have told me that the draw will feature all Step 5 teams and select clubs from step 6 based on finishing position and facilities and that the final list won't be confirmed until tomorrow! If you want to know what this means check out this page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_League_System I have now given up trying to guess which Extra Preliminary Round will be closest to the Scottish border but we will find out tomorrow. Keep following !